Summer reading: Runners up in the Hook's short story contest

"I think fiction can change the world," says the Hook's second-place winner, Carolyn O'Neal, who was inspired to write a story about the ecological horror of the tar sands in Alberta, Canada, after reading an article in Esquire magazine last summer.

Courteney Stuart

Managing his family's Waynesboro business, Xpress Lube, Daniel "Seth" Kislek still manages to find plenty of time to write and inspiration in life and art. The idea for Starfire," says Kislek, came from Vincent Van Gogh's painting "Starry Night."

courteney stuart

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A young girl suffers consequences from life near the tar sands in Alberta, Cananda, the point of origin for the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline. A young man finds a way to help his dying brother reach for the stars. These poignant tales are the Hook's second- and third-place short story contest winners, as chosen by contest judge and best-selling author John Grisham.